June

Named after the emigrant family featured in the film Legends of the Fall, The Ludlows is a beautiful piece of music which is very much in keeping with James Horner’s music from the film which earned him an Academy Award nomination. This is the final piece in my tribute to the composer who died last week in a plane crash.

If We Hold On Together is the penultimate song in my James Horner tribute. It’s the theme song from the Don Bluth animated film The Land Before Time which was performed by Diana Ross on the film soundtrack.

Continuing my tribute to James Horner, here’s All Love Can Be from the film A Beautiful Mind. This haunting song was recorded by Charlotte Church for the film and she described it as one of the most haunting and beautiful songs she had ever performed.

To convey the beauty of mathematics, Horner focused on the idea of a kaleidoscope which constantly changes patterns, some patterns moving quickly and other patterns moving more slowly underneath. He conveyed this in the music with the chord progression and the build up of the counter melodies and harmonies. I hope you enjoy this lovely song.

Continuing my tribute to American film music composer James Horner who died this week, today I’m playing the song Remember from the 2004 epic film Troy, made famous by Josh Groban. I hope you enjoy this one.

Today I’m playing For the Love of a Princess, a version of the main theme from the 1995 film Braveheart in honour of composer James Horner who died earlier this week in a plane crash. The soundtrack from Braveheart earned Horner nominations in the BAFTAs, the Golden Globe and the Oscars. There will be more James Horner music over the coming days: he scored over one hundred films, some of the most well-known cinematic themes ever written.

It’s time for another Billy Joel song: today I’m playing This Night, a doo-wop classic from 1984 featuring the melody from Beethoven’s Pathétique Sonata. Indeed, “L.V. Beethoven” is credited as one of the song’s writers on the album notes. I hope you enjoy this song!

Tonight Taylor Swift kicks off the UK leg of her 1989 World Tour in Glasgow and I know quite a few friends who are attending the concert. Mary’s Song (Oh My My My) was apparently inspired by the long-lasting marriage of Swift’s neighbours.

I’d pre-recorded the song before leaving for Belgium, and indeed before Taylor Swift made worldwide news yesterday with her open letter to Apple regarding the announcement that in the trial 3-month period of the new Apple Music streaming service artists would not be paid. She explained that she would be withdrawing her 1989 album from the service. Within 24 hours Apple has backed down, with Apple Music executive Eddy Cue tweeting “We hear you, @taylorswift13 and indie artists. Love, Apple.” Taylor Swift may have millions, but in my opinion she’s quite right: artists should be paid for their work.

Today I’m in Belgium at the European Parliament offices with a group of Scottish students who are taking part in the final of the OurEurope competition, organised by SEET. I’ve prerecorded possibly the most famous Belgian song ever written: Jacques Brel’s 1959 classic Ne Me Quitte Pas (“don’t leave me”). It’s a beautiful, haunting melody, and the middle section borrows a theme from Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6 where Brel sings:

Today I’m playing another piece from the Misa Campesina, the Kyrie. Like the other parts of the Misa Campesina, this song combines the normal parts of the mass with ideas of liberation theology which can be seen from the lyrics:

I hope you enjoy another piece from the Misa Campesina. Here are two other versions of this song: a more traditional one and a pop version which was the version I first heard. Both are quite different from my piano version!